The present invention relates to the field of winding and unwinding machines and more particularly relates to an arbor for securing reels of web material and the like to a shaft so they may be wound onto or off of the reel.
Various types of materials such as webs of paper, plastic film, as well as wire and similar materials are wound onto or wound off of a reel during processing and handling. Winding of the material, such as web material, is accomplished by securing the core of the reel to a rotating mandril or shaft. Similarly, wire and cable are wound onto the core of a reel may be unwound or payed out as they are installed. Web type materials may be further processed after winding or unwinding by slitting, cutting or applying various coatings.
Accordingly, when processing or utilizing materials which are wound onto or unwound or payed off reels, it is necessary to provide means for temporarily securing the core of the reel to a shaft during the winding or unwinding operation in a manner to facilitate installation, removal and rotation of the reel.
Various types of prior art devices can be found for securing a material reel on a shaft or arbor.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,762,577 shows a device in which segments of a cylindrical body are arranged for radial movement relative to a common center.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,061,289 shows a vertical pay off reel with expanding segments which are actuated by sleeves traveling on a center shaft. A somewhat similar arrangement utilizing a plurality of circumferentially expandable segments and expansible mandril are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,682,924.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,128,060 shows a holder in which segments are urged radially which segments are arcuate in cross section.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,159,085 shows a pay-off reel of the type called a top hat or basket-type which incorporates a plurality of circumferentially spaced, radially movable spacer arms positioned for movement into and out of a slotted cylindrical body. The mechanism within the cylindrical body is operable from the exterior and imparts horizontal motion to the spacer arm to position the spacer arms to match the inner diameter of the coil such as a coil of wire positioned on the pay-off reel.
An expandable chuck for winding web material on a core is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,896. The chuck is attached to the rotating mandril by means of a locking ring. The chuck includes arbor and shoe segments in camming relationship so that relative movement is effective to increase the diameter of the shoe segments. The core upon which the web material is to be wound is placed over the shoe segments which are then extended by rotation of an adjusting nut to secure the core to the shoe segments.
Other expandable arbor arrangements utilize inflatable bladders which can be selectively inflated by admission of air and deflated when the core is to be removed or positioned on the mandril.
The present invention relates to an arbor having expandable and retractable blades or paddles engageable with the core of reels on which material of various types may be wound. The arbor may be used for reels during a winding operation or during an unwinding operation when the material is to payed off the reel. While the present invention will work well with most types of reels, the invention has particular application to materials such as webs of paper or plastic which either are unwound from a reel or wound onto a reel during processing. The processing may be the application of a particular coating to the web or may be a process such as slitting the web into sections which may then be used for labels and similar applications.
Briefly, the present invention provides an arbor which may be used with various types of winding and unwinding equipment. One particular application is in connection with devices which provide controlled winding or unwinding of reel-mounted webs such as webs of paper or plastic.
The arbor of the present invention, sometimes referred to as a collet or chuck, has a generally cylindrical body which is attached to a support shaft. The support shaft is rotatably supported in a suitable device such as within the bearings of an unwind machine and may be driven by a pulley or other drive mechanism. The arbor has an arbor tube which is closed at one end by an end cap. A cam assembly is reciprocal within the cylindrical body of the arbor tube. In one embodiment, the cam assembly comprises an elongate, axially extending center rod having annular cams positioned at opposite ends of the rod. The cams each have generally conical surfaces which define an inclined ramp.
The arbor tube defines two or more longitudinally extending openings. Each of the openings receives an arbor blade or paddle which has a flat outer surface which is parallel to the outer surface of the arbor tube. The inner surface of the blade defines a pair of spaced-apart cam follower surfaces which, when the blades are installed, are engaged by the inclined ramp surfaces of the cams on the cam assembly within the arbor tube so that reciprocation of the cam assembly will radially extend and retract the blades.
An operator, such as a pneumatic actuator, is housed within the support shaft. The operator has an axially extending actuator rod engaging one end of the cam assembly. By selectively pressurizing the actuator, the cam assembly is moved axially to cause the blades to expand radially outward to a position engaging the interior surface or core of the reel mounted on the arbor tube. When the cam assembly is moved in the opposite direction, the blades retract within their openings out of engagement with the reel core engagement with the reel core to allow the reel to be removed and replaced. Preferably the blades are equally spaced around the cam tube with four blades positioned at 90xc2x0 intervals being preferred.
In another embodiment, the arbor tube houses an axial push cam assembly. Two or more blades are received in longitudinal slots in the tube. Cooperating cam slots are provided in the tube and the blades and contain a bearing member such as a ball bearing. Linear actuation of the tube will cause a camming action to extend or retract the blades.